Jeanne Shaheen: “I took the opportunity yesterday in an Armed Services Committee subcommittee to ask Department of Defense officials who…”

“I took the opportunity yesterday in an Armed Services Committee subcommittee to ask Department of Defense officials who have been responsible for maintaining our military technological edge what the impact would be on DOD's research if Congress does not reauthorize the SBIR Program. Assistant Secretary Zachary Lemnios said the SBIR is ``something we absolutely need.'' He spoke of what it is like talking to small innovative companies he works with through SBIR, and he told me: There are small companies willing to take some risk in areas where larger companies just, for whatever reason, just don't. You spend a day with a small business like that, and your mind explodes with new ideas. That is the kind of innovative spirit we need to stay competitive. We need this for America's national security, and as the Senator from Louisiana points out, this is a program that creates jobs. We need to get this reauthorization done. We need to talk about regulatory reform, but we need to do this first. In a few minutes we will be voting on whether to move forward with a bill reauthorizing a program that is critically important to my home State of New Hampshire and the entire country--the Small Business Innovation Research program, or SBIR. As Chair Landrieu has pointed out, the Senate has been debating this bill for 5 weeks now.…”